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Rural America

Media

What We Lost When Gannett Came to Town

We don’t often talk about how a paper’s collapse makes people feel: less connected, more alone.

Elaine Godfrey The Atlantic Oct 2021 15min Permalink

The Tragedy of America’s Rural Schools

Outdated textbooks, not enough teachers, no ventilation — for millions of kids like Harvey Ellington, the public-education system has failed them their whole lives.

Casey Parks New York Times Magazine Sep 2021 40min Permalink

Politics

How a Trail in Rural Oregon Became a Target of Far-Right Extremism

To understand the state’s urban-rural divide, start by looking at Yamhill County’s proposed walking trail.

Leah Sottile High Country News Jul 2021 25min Permalink

Politics Health

This Doctor Is Suggesting COVID-19 Lockdowns Are a Conspiracy to Take Away Your Freedom

A viral video in which Dr. Annie Bukacek questions the severity of COVID-19 has given anti-lockdown activists across the country a sense of validation.

Anne Helen Petersen Buzzfeed May 2020 25min Permalink

Health

America’s Other Epidemic

A new approach to fighting the opioid crisis as it quietly rages on.

Beth Macy The Atlantic Apr 2020 25min Permalink

Country Pride: What I Learned Growing Up in Rural America

For me, country was not a look, a style, or even a conscious attitude, but a physical place, its experience defined by distance from the forces of culture that would commodify it.

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Excerpted from Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth.

Sarah Smarsh The Guardian Sep 2018 15min Permalink

Disabled and Disdained

When a town becomes divided between those who work and those who don’t.

Terrence McCoy Washington Post Jul 2017 15min Permalink

Health

Disabled, or Just Desperate?

Between 1996 and 2015, the number of working-age adults receiving federal disability payments increased dramatically — but nowhere more so than in rural America. This is one man’s story.

Terrence McCoy Washington Post Mar 2017 Permalink

Health

'A Premature and Unnatural Death' in Rural Oklahoma

White women between 25 and 55 have been dying at accelerating rates over the past decade. Anna Marrie Jones was one.

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Previously: What’s Killing Poor White Women?

Eli Saslow Washington Post Apr 2016 15min Permalink